Little Rock, AR -- Mike Huckabee announced today the opening of the Mike Huckabee Presidential Exploratory Committee headquarters in the One Union West Capitol Building at 124 W. Capitol St., Suite 1200, in downtown Little Rock. The office will serve as the home base for the logistics, fundraising and communications aspects of the campaign.

“I felt is was very important to locate campaign headquarters in the heart of downtown Little Rock because this is my home,” Huckabee said. “The values I’ve grown up with here in Arkansas have guided my political career. As we move around the country in this campaign, it’s nice to come back to the headquarters in Little Rock, where my heart is.”

Huckabee, who calls himself a "son of the South," served as governor of Arkansas from 1996-2007, and as lieutenant governor from 1993-96.

“It’s no secret the campaign for president can be exhausting and exciting at the same time,” Huckabee said. “This state is where I am invigorated and it's the source of much of my energy.”

Campaign Manager Chip Saltsman, who previously worked as senior political advisor for then-U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s volunteer political action committee, will work out of the office in Little Rock.

“One of the first big decisions Gov. Huckabee made after forming an exploratory committee is that he wanted the office to be based in Little Rock --not Washington, D.C.,” Saltsman said. “Right away I knew this was a campaign based on American values, not those of the Washington Beltway.”